“Okay not so loud!” I hissed and tried to pull him towards me. Instead, he went sailing past and flew to the ground, sliding along the pavement.
“Mikey”! I gasped, running towards him. He groaned and rolled over.
“Oh crap! Are you okay?”
He nodded. I was afraid of what might happen if I tried to help him up, so I let him stand by himself. Apart from a graze on his left hand he appeared unharmed.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to do that. Oh god, what’s happening to me?”
“Relax, I’m fine,” he assured me, dusting himself down. Then he smiled. “I guess we can put a tick next to super-strength. Guess that would explain the car crash.” A thought came to me. “The car crash! I bet it’s on TV!” We both ran back into the house and piled into the lounge. I switched on the local news and waited. The headlines and even filler news came and went. Nothing about a crash. Mikey looked at me and shrugged as I powered off the set. “Maybe they didn’t report it.”
I rolled my eyes. “Mikey, I was hit by a car doing at least fifty. It folded in half and I walked away without a scratch. In what world would that not be news?” I sat down on the couch and rubbed a hand against my head. “None of this makes any sense.”
The sound of a car rolling into the drive caught my attention.
“Mum and Dad,” said Mikey stating the obvious.
Somehow telling them seemed like a mistake. I stood up and walked close to my half-brother. I whispered as if afraid my parents would be able to hear through the outside wall. “Mikey, I don’t want you to tell them anything okay? Let’s keep this between me and you.” He arched his eyebrows. “Where the hell are you going to say you’ve been?” I wasn’t sure. “I’ll think of something, just back me up okay?” He stared at me. “Please?” He sighed. “Fine.” I clapped him on the shoulder, making sure to be gentle. “Thanks.”
The engine rumbled to a stop and I heard the thunk of doors slamming, followed by a clatter of keys in the lock. “Hello?” Mum called as the front door clicked shut. “Mum, Dad, in here! Guess who’s back?” called out Mikey. Mum and John came rushing into the lounge. “Hi,” I said awkwardly as they appeared, actually waving at them.
“Alex! Oh my boy!” sobbed Mum and ran over, wrapping her arms around me. “Don’t ever scare me like that again!” As she held me close, I rested my head into the crook of her neck. There was nothing quite like a mother’s comforting to make all of your troubles disappear. Looking up brought me back to reality with a bump.
John had held back, his thick arms folded across his even thicker chest. He was eyeing me suspiciously. “Where in the bloody hell have you been? Your Mother has been going out of her mind with worry!” he growled. “And what’s with the makeover?” He gestured his hand towards me.
Until he had said the last part, I’d had no clue what I was going to say. Now I knew.
Mum unravelled herself and stood away from me, wiping her eyes.
I raised my hands in a defensive pose. “I’m really sorry I worried everyone. I’ve been feeling pretty down lately, so I decided to go to this new alternative health place down the coast.” My words sounded confident to my ears. I hoped it was the same for them. “They were advertising it for sixth formers. A winter retreat. I had to get the train really early in the morning and because I was so tired, I forgot to take my phone.” I breathed in deep. “I was going to call you from the place, but you weren’t allowed to use phones unless it was an absolute emergency. Part of the treatment they said.” I felt the last few words hang in the air, like vapour.
John was staring at me, trying to see if I was telling the truth. Before he could call me out on it, Mikey came to the rescue. “He’s telling the truth Dad. I’ve seen it advertised in the hub. This is actually my fault a bit. Alex told me he was thinking of going the other week, but I completely forgot.” That seemed to work. There was no way that perfect Mikey would lie to his Dad. John nodded and flicked his eyes back to me. “Why didn’t you tell us you were going?” he demanded. I looked down at the floor trying my best to look ashamed. “Because I didn’t think you would let me.”
He shook his head and sighed. “Well you’re a bloody idiot for leaving your phone behind.” He turned to Mum who was staring out of the window. She looked lost in thought.
“I’m going to call the police and let them know. You coming babe?”
Mum snapped out of her reverie. “Yes, two seconds honey.”
John headed for the door and stopped. He seemed to be dealing with some kind of internal struggle. When he spoke and the words were a little strained. “Whatever they did at that health place, it’s done the trick. You look…better,” he grunted. Then nodded to show he was done and disappeared from the room.
A smile crept across my face at yet another unexpected compliment courtesy of my stepdad. It soon switched to confusion when Mum hugged me again and whispered something so low into my ear I could barely hear. I drew back at her words, confused. She squeezed my arm and turned, heading out of the door.
What on earth did she mean by that?
I shook my head and let the words fade away for the moment. It had worked — they believed me. To be honest, what choice did they have? There was no other rational explanation. I would have believed it. I turned to Mikey and smiled. “Thanks for backing me up there.” Shrugging, he scooped his bag up off the carpet. “That’s what brothers are for right?” He squeezed my shoulder and followed the others out of the room, leaving me standing on my own.
Later, after the buzz of me not being face down in a ditch had subsided, I snuck away into my room. Flopping onto my bed, I tried to get a handle on my thoughts. I knew I had super strength and speed, but what else? Were these effects permanent? Could I have been involved in some kind of radioactive accident, like in the comic books? Is that why I couldn’t remember where I’d been? I also couldn’t get what Mum had said out of my mind. Did she know something I didn’t? Or was I reading too much into it? There were so many questions swimming about in my head, they made me feel dizzy. So I shut my eyes and let my thoughts drift. Instead, more questions squeezed into my crowded brain: Is this real? Have I gone mad? Why me? Is there a reason? I couldn’t cope; it felt like my head was going to explode.
“Stop it!” I hissed, pounding my fists against my temples. “Just stop!”
Silence.
I sighed and sat up on the edge of my bed, my head in my hands. Get a grip Alex.
Suddenly I remembered my phone. Leaning over, I scooped it off the desk. It had run out of battery, so I had to rummage through my top drawer for the charger before I could switch it on.
When the logo had faded away and the information had loaded, I saw that I had five missed calls and Voicemail. A personal record.
The first missed call was from my parents. I figured they must have called me and heard it ringing upstairs. The next was from Tim and the last three were all blocked.
I tapped the voicemail button and waited as it connected. The woman’s disjointed voice informed me I had four new messages.
The first was from Tim, left Friday evening. He explained that my Mum had called him in a panic. He asked if it had anything to do with Terry. He offered to go to the school Principal for me if I didn’t want to. Asked me to call him and rang off.
The next was from a telemarketer. Apparently I could consolidate my existing debts into one easy monthly repayment. I sighed and deleted the message.
The third made my stomach jolt. It was Gabriella. Her angelic voice floated through the speaker into my ear. “Hi Alex its Ella. I hope you don't mind, I got your number from your friend Tim. I was a little worried about you. Has something happened? Anyway, please call me back as soon as you get this.” She read out her number then clicked off. I repeated it over and over in my head as I scrambled about for a pen and paper. After jotting it down, I made a mental note to call her the first chance I got.
I saved the message and waited for the final one. It had come through this afternoon. As soon as it started, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.
At first, there was nothing apart from what sounded like fierce wind. It crackled loudly in the receiver forcing me to hold the phone away from my ear. Then a robotic voice cut through the noise, like the types they used in hostage films. It was slow and deep and the mobile reacted to it, buzzing electronically like it was getting interference.
“ Alexander, we are the ones who took you. Please understand it was to help you. To keep you safe. Your
